A busy week

Dear reader 

On Tuesday, we launched Swiss Venture Capital Report at two events in Zurich and Lausanne. I am always pleased with the feedback and the fact that the report is obviously a useful tool for the ecosystem. For me personally, what was most surprising was not the clear decline in invested capital or the stability in the number of financing rounds, but rather the resilience of Swiss venture capital investors. Currently, there are 52 open funds in Switzerland, 25 of which have already achieved a first closing and started their investment activities. The list of funds can be found in the report on page 32 and in our Investor Directory.

For the first time, the report is organised into three sections: Investors, Investments and Exits. This is intended to provide a clearer picture of the three most important sections of the VC value chain. This week we again have news on both exits and investments. Bruker has acquired Basel-based laboratory automation company Chemspeed. It is the third Swiss company to be taken over by the US company since January 2023.

The trend of 2023 continues in terms of the number of investments – and there is still a lot of activity. This week we reported on seven financing rounds. Transmutex, with its innovative nuclear energy technology, secured the most money with a good CHF 17 million. Green fintech start-up CarbonPool received CHF 10.5 million in a seed round and healthtech start-up Qumea received CHF 9 million.

Major activity is also a good description of Venture Kick. In 2023, the initiative supported 118 start-ups with CHF 6.23 million. This year, a new donor has already been found in the form of Fondation Alcea. In addition, AeroSpec and Rematter were announced this week as the latest winners of support of CHF 150,000.

If you want to immerse yourself in the everyday life of a founder, you can do so from this week on Sat.1 Schweiz. A six-part series follows three start-ups – alumni of the *zünder accelerator programme. Incidentally, start-ups can register for the next edition of the programme until 15 February.

The Youngsters programme, which replaces the Pitch Battle, at the next Startup Days is now open. Start-ups up to a maximum of two years old and which have already developed traction are eligible. Read more about the new format in our article.

The fourth Mars Habitat Challenge is open for registration until Monday. It is looking for pioneering start-ups to develop solutions and business models that will help to create a self-sustaining habitat on Mars.

Start-ups with innovative technology that can sustainably restore the stability and resilience of the Earth’s systems can apply for the new Tech4Regeneration programme at EPFL Innovation Park until 10 February.

Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief Startupticker.ch